Business of BioTechniques – March update
As we move towards Spring, the biotech sector continues to thrive with several UK-based companies receiving major investment. Research also continues to progress the development of rapid diagnostics and vaccines for diseases such as Ebola and coronavirus. Elsewhere has seen the expansion and development of life science businesses, as well as the introduction of platforms and initiatives to promote new ventures and advancements in the industry.
Industry Developments
Mologic and Institut Pasteur de Dakar launch accelerated program to develop rapid diagnostic test for Ebola
Mologic (Bedford, UK), a leading developer of lateral flow and rapid diagnostic technologies, has launched an accelerated program with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar to develop a low-cost, high-performance rapid diagnostic test for Ebola. The project is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the UK Government’s Department for International Development (both London, UK) through their joint call to advance epidemic preparedness. By developing a simple test deployed at the point of need, the project aims to overcome the obstacles in case identification, logistics and sample transportation to a central qualified lab.
Mologic will apply ultra-sensitive lateral flow technology developed at the Company’s Centre for Advanced Rapid Diagnostics to lead product development and manufacture, with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (Senegal) leading validation of the test in collaboration with the Institut National de Recherche en Biologie in Kinshasa (DR Congo). The test will be manufactured both in the UK and in Senegal at Institut Pasteur de Dakar’s new diaTropix facility.
Avacta and Daewoong agree collaboration and license agreement with AffyXell Therapeutics
Avacta (Cambridge, UK), the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, signed a collaboration and license agreement with AffyXell Therapeutics, the recently established joint venture with Daewoong Pharmaceutical (Seoul, South Korea). Avacta and AffyXell will work together to develop Affimer proteins against a range of targets which, when produced by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are intended to inhibit inflammatory and autoimmune pathways and improve the overall efficacy of MSCs, creating a next generation of stem cell therapies.
Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented: “The potential for AffyXell’s new class of cell therapies, which can be applied to a wide range of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, is enormous. We are therefore very excited by the opportunity to be part of this new venture and to demonstrate the power of Affimer proteins in the field of engineered cell therapies.”
ERS Genomics provided comment on affirmation of key CRISPR-Cas9 patent in Europe, and announced license agreement with Aelian Biotechnology
ERS Genomics (Dublin, Ireland), which was formed to provide broad access to the foundational CRISPR—Cas9 intellectual property held by Emmanuelle Charpentier, provided comment on the rejection by the European Patent Office (Munich, Germany) of arguments filed in opposition to European patent No. EP2800811, jointly held by Charpentier, the Regents of the University of California, and the University of Vienna, and affirmed the patentability of the inventions described.
Eric Rhodes, CEO, ERS Genomics, said: “The outcome of the opposition hearing reinforces the broad and fundamental nature of this patent. This result, combined with the recent European Patent Office Technical Board of Appeal decision upholding the full revocation of the Broad Institute’s patent EP2771468, viewed as its foundational CRISPR—Cas9 patent in Europe, further solidifies our position as holding the predominant CRISPR—Cas9 patent portfolio. This decision also validates the choice our licensees have made to work with ERS to enable their commercialization efforts. We are expanding our efforts to make the technology broadly available, so it can be used by as many people as possible.”
ERS also announced the signing of a license agreement granting Aelian Biotechnology (Vienna, Austria) access to ERS Genomics’ CRISPR—Cas9 patent portfolio, to support Aelian’s commercial functional genomic screening platform. Aelian combines CRISPR—Cas9 screening techniques with single-cell sequencing to identify and investigate disease targets and drug mechanisms of action.
Aelian’s novel platform is applicable across a wide range of cell types, including primary cells, and broadens access to a wider range of complex phenotypes. Under the terms of the license from ERS Genomics, Aelian is now able to offer its technology worldwide to pharmaceutical and biotech companies seeking more effective therapies.
Start Codon joins Cancer Research UK’s Entrepreneurial Programmes Initiative
Start Codon (Cambridge, UK), a new model of life science and healthcare business accelerator, has joined Cancer Research UK’s (London, UK) Entrepreneurial Programmes Initiative, which aims to promote the development of new business ventures within academia and encourage entrepreneurship. Start Codon’s role will focus on the Cambridge, UK, cluster, to educate a multi-disciplinary oncology research community about entrepreneurship, company formation, operations and fundraising, with the goal of supporting the development of viable start-up businesses that will address unmet medical needs.
Cancer Research UK has established the initiative to bridge the gap between medical research advancements and the translation of research findings into clinical practice by providing oncology researchers with the skills, infrastructure and support needed to accelerate the progression of their ideas and discoveries into products that will improve the lives of cancer patients.
TTP plc enters into exclusive license agreement with DiaSorin to commercialize molecular diagnostics platform
TTP plc (Melbourn, UK), a leading independent technology and product development company, and DiaSorin (MN, USA), a global leader in the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) field, have signed an exclusive license and technology transfer agreement. DiaSorin will combine its extensive molecular test offering with TTP’s Puckdx™ platform to develop a single-use, sample-to-answer, molecular diagnostics point-of-care platform for human in vitro diagnostic applications.
TTP’s proprietary Puckdx platform offers a flexible, fast time-to-result and low-cost solution for translating diagnostic assays for human and animal health and life science research to an easy-to-use desktop device. Using this simple and cost-effective technology solution in combination with DiaSorin’s human in vitro diagnostic assays could provide clients with a result in less than 15 minutes.
BIA Separations and University of Zagreb sign license agreement to commercialize novel elution method for virus and viral vector purification
BIA Separations (Ajdovščina, Slovenia), a leading bio-chromatography development and manufacturing company, announced it has signed a licensing agreement with the University of Zagreb (Croatia) to commercialize a novel elution method that helps preserve the integrity, infectivity and potency of viruses during immunoaffinity purification.
The University of Zagreb will provide BIA Separations with access to proprietary technology, while BIA Separations will market the technology to biopharma, biotech and life science industries globally.
Products and Services
The Native Antigen Company introduces novel coronavirus antigens
The Native Antigen Company (Oxford, UK), one of the world’s leading suppliers of reagents that enables research into vaccines and diagnostics for emerging and endemic infectious diseases, announced the commercial introduction of its novel coronavirus antigens, derived from the emerging Wuhan strain. These recombinant proteins offer scientists high-quality reagents to support ongoing infectious disease research, and the development of diagnostics and vaccines.
Sphere Fluidics expands commercial operations to increase supply of Pico-Surf surfactant for droplet microfluidics
Sphere Fluidics (Cambridge, UK), a company commercializing single cell analysis systems underpinned by its patented picodroplet technology, has announced investment in the production and supply of its proprietary biocompatible surfactant, Pico-Surf™, for reliable and highly stable droplet generation and processing. Sphere Fluidics will expand operations to meet demand for large-scale commercial supply of its high-performing surfactant for use in a wide range of microfluidic application workflows.
Grants and Funding Rounds
| Recipients | Investors/Funding bodies | Funding type | Amount | More info |
| Evonetix (Cambridge, UK) | Foresite Capital, Draper Esprit, DCVC, the Morningside group, Providence Investment Company, Cambridge Consultants Ltd, Rising Tide Fund, Civilization Ventures | Series B | $30 million | Evonetix raises $30 million USD (£23 million GBP)
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| CN Bio Innovations (Cambridge, UK)
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CITIC Securities Investment Co., Ltd, CN Innovations Holdings Ltd. | $9 million | CN Bio Innovations raises $9 million USD (c. £6.9 million GBP)
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| Mologic | UK Government | c.£1 million | Mologic awarded c.£1 million by UK government to develop rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19
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People
| Organization | Appointments | More info | ||
| PhoreMost (Babraham, UK) |
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PhoreMost strengthens leadership team with two key appointments | ||
| H.E.L. Group (Borehamwood, UK) |
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H.E.L Group focuses on growth in China | ||
| Optibrium (Cambridge, UK) |
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Optibrium appoints Dr Tim Hohm as Director of Commercial Strategy and Business Development | ||
| ELRIG UK (York, UK) |
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ELRIG UK and British Pharmacological Society appoint Dr Ann Hayes to chair joint steering committee |
Benedict Cross, Senior Director (Technology), PhoreMost
Catherine Beech, OBE, Non-Executive Director, PhoreMost
Qing (Steven) Chen, China General Manager, H.E.L Group
Tim Hohm, Director of Commercial Strategy and Business Development, Optibrium
Ann Hayes, Chair of the joint steering committee of ELRIG UK and the British Pharmacological Society (London, UK)Events and Networking
Sphere Fluidics’ inaugural Discovery Day
Sphere Fluidics’ inaugural Discovery Day, a user-group style conference, took place at the Granta Centre, Cambridge (UK) on 3 March, 2020. The free one-day event brought together industry leaders and researchers to explore how picodroplet technology has revolutionized processes and workflows in biologics discovery and development.
Lab of the Future Congress USA
The event will see major life science and pharmaceutical companies, research institutes and service companies gather on the 19–20 May, 2020 at Hilton Back Bay in Boston, MA, USA. The event follows the highly successful Lab of the Future Europe event, which saw more than 300 senior pharma executives meet to discuss the latest advancements in the life science industry.
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Catch up on Zyme’s February roundup of the business of BioTechniques here.
